SOUL ALIVE - Creative | Intuitive | Visionary

When my plan wasn’t working

Once upon a time, when my micro business was only a few months old, I was feeling overwhelmed by the myriad of tasks I needed to do. I’d already created my website, which was a marathon in itself. But I still had a list as long as my arm of tasks I didn’t have the skills for. Rather than wallow in misery, I did what I know best. I made an Intuitive Vision Board.

Smack bang in the middle of it was the large head of a Buddleja, otherwise known as the ‘butterfly plant’. You can guess why; it's a magnet to butterflies. Alongside I’d pasted the words: “create a buzz”.

I had no rational reason for choosing a Buddleja but it was no surprise either because this is my creative process: to purposefully set out to distract my left-brain in order to have a conversation with my right-brain. This required me to let go of what I thought I should be doing by choosing pictures to represent this and allow the images to choose me. I wanted to open the windows and let some fresh air in.

The next day when I re-visited my vision board, I chuckled to see the Buddleja because the first thing I thought of was a hand-held microphone. Little did I know …

Serendipity

Within seven months of creating this Intuitive Vision Board, here’s what transpired - absolutely none of which I’d considered or planned for beforehand. Yet all of these, as far as I could tell, had some association with the ‘hand-held microphone’ and finding my public voice.

* I started writing newsletters and blogs regularly

* I appeared on TV for the first time talking about intuitive vision boards

* I had three separate interviews on the radio

* I began writing my book about Intuitive Vision Boards

* I sang my first-ever solo on stage in front of 150 people

* I made three commercial videos

On the air with Emma-Jane Taylor on Oxford TV

At the same time I was intrigued to discover I actually had a large Buddleja growing at the entrance to my property, which I'd not noticed before because I’d moved house in the depths of winter.

During the summer, while I was in full swing with the book writing, 30 large blooms formed a protective arch for me to pass under - a constant reminder of my current focus to create a buzz.

Risk

From a psychotherapy point of view the Buddleja on my intuitive vision board was a transformational symbol. At the same time it was directing me towards the most effective route to develop my business. I had not previously considered any of those “microphone activities” yet as they came into my awareness, I tried them on - even when it was a stretch, involved a small risk, and an element of fear.

And what had my logical left-brain (LL) planned for me to be doing instead before my remarkable right-brain (RR) stepped in and redirected the course of history with the Intuitive Vision Board?

It sinks my spirits just to recall the massive ‘to do list’ I faced every day, systematically addressing tasks I found tedious - like mastering each social media platform in turn and writing a business plan. My progress was slow and I was very frustrated. If I’d made a vision board in the traditional way to reflect the intentions I’d set for myself, it would have looked very different from the one I created.

I’m not suggesting the logical left-brain is now redundant or the tasks on my “to do list” are not valid, ever. It’s simply these decisions were being taken too early by LL when it’s strength is not to propose solutions that provide a quantum leap forward. LL needs to be at the service of RR otherwise the outcome will always be limited.

It’s not LL’s fault; it can’t help itself. It only works with data that is known already, which has been speculated accounts for a mere 5-8% of our available intelligence. RR on the other hand has access to that vast, awesome sea of possibility and a rich treasure trove of ideas and inspiration, which is the other 92% of our available intelligence. Therefore by engaging RR in making my intuitive vision board, I entertained ideas that had never entered my conscious awareness before. And these RR nudges added momentum to my business life more effectively than all my LL thinking put together.

The Intuitive Vision Board is not a panacea but it certainly provided me with the best guidance I needed at this time. There is so much I could share with you about this particular intuitive vision board but I’ll settle for one final image, which also changed the face of my business.

Manifesting Woman-Friday

Woman-Friday

See the man above sat at the desk alongside the Buddleja? When I first saw him I thought: he’ll do, he looks busy and creative to me but not a suitable romantic partner.” Then I had the subsequent thought: “He’s working for me. He’s my Man Friday!”

Until then I had not considered employing anyone in the foreseeable future. Like many micro business owners, I didn’t think I could afford to. But acting on this RR nudge, I posted an advertisement on-line. It said: “Wanted. Part-time Man-Friday to provide computer and social media expertise to a struggling creative.”

I had three replies within a day. The first came from a man who looked like the image on my board and helped me over some initial hurdles. The second reply came from a woman who lived three minutes walk away. She offered to be my Woman-Friday and has been working for me every since.

Am I grateful for Deborah? Yes! Could I afford her? No, my LL still proclaims! But I went ahead and defiantly afforded her anyway. Her presence has allowed me to progress much faster than my scrabbling around trying to do everything myself. The third reply was from another talented candidate, by the way.

Do you see how this works?

I didn’t make the vision board to reflect previously conceived ideas of what I thought I should be doing otherwise this exercise would be little more than goal-setting using pictures. There’s nothing wrong with the latter and it is more common but, it has limitations which you now understand.

Neither am I saying this style of vision board can’t work; it can. But when the linear intelligence of LL alone decides what images should be on your board, it can’t take into account the biggest picture. Consequently you could potentially be focusing on the wrong things.

And, if you've decided in advance of making your board what your goals and aspirations are, you’ll need to rely on your will-power alone to pummel them into existence. The alternative is to align with super-consciousness via your intuitive vision board because then you align with universal intelligence and its will-power is limitless.

May the force be with you

My recommendation is to get out of your own way. Open up to your innate intuitive intelligence and allow your imagination free-range when it comes to making your intuitive vision board. Be excited and curious about the images that appear.

And then make sure you stay alert to the gentle promptings to action you’ll receive in the subsequent months ahead. Don’t ignore them just because they seem inconvenient to LL who will try to convince you to wait for a more opportune moment. Do it anyway. At least be curious enough to do something with the guidance you receive, otherwise it's like uncovering hidden treasure and then throwing it away.

Don't expect an overnight result from this creative process either. It took me seven months in this example for the vision to complete its form. There is a perfect moment when it comes to manifesting a vision when providence moves with you too - but in its own time and on its own terms. In the interim, it pays to cultivate patience, which is something I had to learn but now I’ve come to trust.

I have a £800 Nikon strung over my shoulder and a JVC camcorder around my neck and I’m prayin’ to Mary that I don’t slip on the cobbled stones of Penrose Quay into the Atlantic waters while I'm here to make a video.

Those colourful boats on my Intuitive Vision Board (top left) have been working their Irish magic again. Only a few months ago they took me on an all-expenses paid trip to a rural suburb of Dublin as a visiting “tour guide”. This time they've led me to Cork for a week.

I’m working on a building site in a cleverly reclaimed wharf, accompanied by two engineers. It was never supposed to be a building site but work is so far behind schedule that I’m surrounded by men of all trades doing their thing. It’s dirty, noisy and fascinating.

I've never worked alongside men who use their bodies and hands each day. I'll be honest and say I held a prejudice there would be a lot of testosterone flying around and vying for position in the hierarchy. What struck me more was the courtesy and respect shown by the men towards each other.

The only firework moment was when a man pasting vinyl didn’t realise the touch-activated shower on the wall behind it was switched on - and it drenched him. His swearing in a Cork accent, incomprehensible at the best of times, was really more entertaining than scarey.

I was on my feet for 8-9 hour days filming. So were the engineers I was accompanying to install the two float rooms.

It went through my mind how satisfying it must be to make something and see it materialise before your very eyes, channelling all that masculine energy into it rather than just being sat behind a desk every day.

Meanwhile I was very grateful to be able to retire to a comfortable, elegant spa hotel and peel off my dusty clothes to relax and freshen up.

This is a float room (right) by the way. It's a private, ambient bath tub where you lay on your back in silence, darkness too if you prefer, suspended on a dense Epsom Salt solution - a bit like floating in the Dead Sea.

For the past three years I’ve worked part-time for the market leader selling their float rooms around the world. The UK, Holland, Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia are the biggest markets. I even attended a Float Conference in Oregon last year; it's a growing industry.

The people who gravitate to this business are inclined to be spiritual by nature and have a desire to foster that in others. I enjoy encouraging them to establish their havens of floating tranquility where they can let go of all the stresses, tensions and worries of life for an hour at least. For those of you who've worked with me will know how well this sits alongside my own modus operandi.

How did my floating life transpire? Just over three years ago my practice was fledgling while I was slowly emerging from the roughest, toughest period in Mary Nondé recorded history. At that time I attended a Tango dance lesson and found myself paired with an Aussie. When I heard he was a business owner, I asked whether he knew of anyone who could offer me part-time work. He wasn’t looking but he liked the sound of what I could do. No CV, no interview. Just a month’s trial - and I've been working for them ever since.

Yes, there's a woman floating on my Intuitive Vision Board below! I made this board before the floatation company came on my scene six months later. Up until then I'd only floated once at a Spa. She was a premonition for sure, alongside the three photos of the ocean and including the bed-on-the-rocks beside the sea (to dream for), and Daniel Craig walking towards me.

So here's the craic. The floatation company I've been working for is called Ocean Float Rooms. It's like having a bed by the sea.And the owner has the body and stature of Daniel Craig, as far as I can tell.

Warm and ambient wishes, Mary

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Most single women who make a Vision Board have in the back of their mind the desire for a partner to share their life with. I often see images of couples in an embrace or enjoying each other’s company. It’s rare the vision board maker is so brazen as to pick an image of a couple quite blatantly getting married. But on Anne’s board there were two!

Anne was in a long-term relationship of 16-year duration. During this time her partner had proposed a couple of times but Anne hadn’t been ready for it. Her hands were full running a family business, which she’d taken over from her parents, and she’d been raising two children too. Because she couldn’t see her way beyond these commitments, her partner had dropped it. So when the images of wedding couples first appeared, she assumed it was to do with her son getting married.

Five months later it was a different story. She had now sold the family business and shed the all-consuming identity that went with it. She was entering a new phase of her life with a different set of needs and values emerging. Not surprisingly, marriage seemed entirely appropriate to her now and it was she who popped the question to her partner - who readily accepted. It was only after this she remembered the images of the two wedding couples on her Vision Board.

When people are making their Vision Boards I always encourage them not to plan in advance what images should appear. The creator begins their exploration with an empty mind and a blank sheet of paper. And I continue to go to great lengths to ensure their cognitive mind is occupied in order to give their intuitive intelligence the chance to have a voice.

If a single woman desires a relationship - yet an obvious representation does not fall into her hands on the day of the workshop - then I encourage her to leave it alone. It's safer to assume it’s not part of her programme for the foreseeable future and she has other priorities..

Obviously she can still willfully find a picture and stick it in the centre. However, in the grander scheme of things, this might be a distraction and cause her to miss out on something important beckoning to her, if she'd stayed out of her own way.

I speak from experience. For four years the only images of men I found were either in the distance or with their backs towards me! I had to accept for whatever reason I needed time alone and kept following the signs to learn what was required of me in the interim. In retrospect I can see that what I’d been doing would have been quite difficult had I also been developing a relationship as well. C’est la vie.

Diamonds are forever. There's one final twist to Anne's tale. Within a month of completing her Vision Board, Anne came across a craftsmen and fell in love with a stunning pair of his earrings. She told her ‘James Bond’ partner about them who gallantly purchased them for her.

Now take a closer look at her Vision Board above. Can you see how Anne had already pictured a pair of earrings next to the couple getting married – and next to the same couple, a picture of daisies in a similar shape and style to the diamond earrings? Magic!

So here’s to a woman’s heart’s desire and to the James Bond’s of this world willing to meet it, warm wishes Mary.

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